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Friday, May 29, 2015

Have you ever been playing around with a new product and you get so excited about the results that you actually squeal?? Well that's exactly what I did when messing around with my new Ecoline colours. It was a noise I had not heard before, but hope to hear again! Believe it or not, there are only two colours on this card...but when they mix together you get all sorts of different shades and hues, so amazing!! The colours that is, not the squealing! lol

This card is quite small at 4" x 6" because I made it out of the scrap paper I was testing on. I loved the results so much that I couldn't bear to toss the scraps out!! I cut out the main panel and then had some strips left over, so I made some fishtail banners and layered them up!

I used a Memory Box stencil with some DecoArt Crackle Paste to lay down a pattern. The flowers were cut with Joy Crafts and coloured with distress inks Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass and the ribbon was coloured with the same colours. I decided to keep all the embellishments really pale so the background would be the focus. The splash of black paint spray adds a little contrast to break up the aquas.

SQUEAL!! - doh, there's that noise again!

The frame and the rose embellishments were made using crafter's clay and silicone molds. I covered them with DecoArt Crackle Paint to antique them. The flowers in the frame were stamped with a LaBlanche stamp and coloured with Copic markers.

The tiny butterflies are from a Stampendous Charms set, they were colours with Copic markers. The microbeads are a beautiful mix of aqua and clear. I got them from my sweet friend, the lovely and talented SARA EMILY of sarascloset. They are really sparkly, although it's hard to tell in the photos. Thanks Sara!!

ARE THESE COLOURS GORGEOUS OR WHAT!!! I'm heading back to the art store on Saturday to pick up more colours...Pammie needs to play!! Stay tuned for more messy madness courtesy of Ecoline!

UPDATE:My card won a Top 3 award in the following wonderful challenge:

So remember I told you that the white wolf at the zoo was howling at me? My hubby prepped the video for me so I could share it with you. What you catch in the video is only the last time he howled at me, but I had managed to get him to howl several times before hubby got the video camera recording. It was so amazing and people were flocking around to watch as this wolf and I carried on an entire conversation!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Welcome to another challenge starting over at Try it on Tuesday. This time around our theme is CROWNING GLORY so we want to see a crown in some form or another on your project.

I thought I would experiment with some new products and techniques today, but not everything went according to plan. My finished card doesn't exactly look like the version in my head, but then I suppose...does it ever?? I mean, let's face it...if things always went according to plan, I would be a billionaire, weigh 105 lbs and have a magic button in my home that when pushed, instantly cancels a TV show, so I don't have to be subjected to things like Honey Boo Boo!!

I recently picked up some water soluble inks called Ecoline. The colours are really vibrant and they react to different surfaces in different ways (so much fun). I painted the background with DecoArt yellow paints in two shades, then I spritzed a little Goosebumps, thinking it would act as a resist for the Ecoline. But when I splashed my "yellow" Ecoline on the panel, it didn't seem to care about the Goosebumps, AND it's more orange than yellow! DOH! I quickly compensated by washing the layer with some watered down Gesso to mute the colours and then I proceeded to add a little orange to everything else to balance it out.

The stamp set is from Stampendous. The Chloe die cut is from Memory Box. The ribbon was coloured with distress inks Mustard Seed and Wild Honey. The honeycomb pattern in the background is the Reverse Chickenwire Stencil from Crafter's Workshop.

The drips are supposed to be honey, but I'm not sure they're really the right colour. I just couldn't seem to get the right mixture of orange and yellow together. Oh well, still looks like honey I think. The washi tape is actually hand made. I stamped the checker board border from Prima onto some medical gauze and ripped it off in strips. Seemed to work pretty well, think I will use that little trick more often!!

The random stamping in the background is a small clear background stamp from Prima from the Jack and Jill collection. I use this stamp a lot to throw a bit of design on a card. It's very subtle and goes with any theme of card you're making.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Today I have the results of a little experiment that I thought I would try. I have been seeing this Encaustic painting everywhere I go. For those who aren't familiar, it's painting with wax based paint and a hot iron, melt pot or heat gun. I thought this was something I ought to try (completely spurred on by the very talented Ruth over at A Love to Create), so I ordered myself one of those teeny tiny little craft irons from Amazon.

I was so excited when it arrived, I went on a hunt for the other products I was going to need. I searched the city high and low and let me tell you, this stuff isn't easy to find, and it is NOT cheap. At $40 for the clear and $30 for every block of coloured wax...my heart sank!! Then it hit me, white candles and a box of Crayola crayons...here is my result.

OK, so maybe it's not so much Encaustic painting as it is Encaustic smooshing!! But hey, it was my first time and that iron was really tiny for someone who's all thumbs! I used purple, royal blue and hot pink crayons along with the candles to make the background. It's sort of hard to see, but I sprinkled iridescent glitter in between the wax layers, the entire card is very shimmery!

I coated the base with two layers of Mod Podge, but I won't do that again! You can see the brush strokes and it really takes away from the amazing swirly texture of the wax pattern. Perhaps a spray adhesive next time?? The butterfly is from my new Tim Holtz stamp set, yay!! I coloured it with Copics.

Another round of handmade Gardenias today. Coloured with distress inks Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry and the never-before-used Shaded Lilac. This is such a bizarre colour...it's too blue to be purple and too purple to be blue, but it seemed to fit perfectly into my palette today. The filigree leaves are from Prima. The corner pieces I made with crafter's clay and a Martha Stewart mold. I painted them with white crackle paint.

I pulled out another long lost Spellbinders die to cut out this fun frame. I used a sheet of foam, painted it with Gesso and then a layer of white crackle paint for texture. I love using the foam for this kind of accent, it makes the frame look more 3D, almost like a wood or chipboard embellishment.

MY TRIP TO THE ZOO

I thought I would throw in a few pictures of my trip to the zoo. We had great weather, a few clouds so the sun wasn't too hot and a nice cool breeze. We saw tons of animals of course, but I thought I would just show a few shots of some of the more unique creatures we were lucky enough to see.

The panthers were really difficult to get good pictures of. They were very distracted by something and were pacing back and forth in front of the doors to the enclosure. Our best guess was that someone was late bringing their lunch!! EEK!

I have never seen real jellyfish before, They were actually swimming around in quite an organized fashion. Looked a little bit like synchronized swimming. Very cool.

I know, I know, wolf...nothing new to see here, but this one was very special to us. I howled at him and he howled back!! No lie, I kept howling and he would howl, and he was looking right at me!! My husband managed to capture a bit on video and I will upload that as soon as I figure out how to do it! It was amazing!

Last but definitely not least, these little guys were the reason we went to the zoo. RED PANDAS!! Just about the cutest friggin things you've ever seen!! They move in slow motion, no hurry to get anywhere! I really wanted to jump over the fence and take one of these critters home with me, awwwww!!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

It's time for another wonderful challenge over at Frilly and Funkie! This time Georgie is our lovely hostess and she has chosen the theme HAPPY HAPPY. She would like you to create a shabby chic or vintage style project that you love doing, a product you love using, or something that makes you so happy it gives you inspiration to make something beautiful!. One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Linda's shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

What makes me happy...dripping, dropping, flicking, splotching, smooshing. swooshing, swiping and wiping! Oh yeah, and I almost forgot the most important one...EXPERIMENTING! After my last card, which was completely void of anything messy, I dove in head first with this and made a mess beyond compare. As it turns out, the dogs ended up pink, green AND yellow! HAHA! That's OK, they're my favourite colours for spring anyway!

I just received some fabulous new products from Linda's shop that I have been dying to play with, so I took the opportunity to experiment with them, and oh boy, how fun! This flower is my new Wendy Vecchi Hydrangea stamp. I stamped it with Coffee Archival ink and embossed it with Ranger clear embossing powder. The pink petals and green leaves were both water coloured with my new Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals from the Autumn Leaves collection. I also threw in some Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry and Victorian Velvet on the petals and Shabby Shutters on the leaves.

The tag is cut from the Tim Holtz Tag Collection set and then I used the Tim Holtz Latticework stencil and Wendy Vecchi crackle paste to lay the pattern. It was splashed with more Lindy's Magicals and some distress sprays Wild Honey and the new Ken Oliver Colour Burst Lemon Yellow. you can see all of the amazing colours in the Lindy's Magicals. It's so shimmery and gorgeous, the camera doesn't do it justice at all!!

For the background, I coated my paper with Gesso and then I stamped and coloured a bunch of the Hydrangea and then filled in between with the Tim Holtz script stamp from the Papillon stamp set. I coloured a bit with Antique Linen and edged with Gathered Twigs. The butterfly is from the French Flight stamp set, coloured with Mustard Seed.

The bronze key, the bronze corner piece and the beautiful lace are all from Linda's shop. The leaves were cut with Tim Holtz's Garden Greens die and coloured with Peeled Paint ink spray. The tiny bottle is from Tim Holtz Idea-Ology and the pin is from my stash.

The fancy frame is from Spellbinders. I cut it out of foam and covered it with Picket Fence Crackle Paint. The flower is cut from Tattered Florals and coloured with Wild Honey and Mustard Seed. The tiny porcelain looking flower in the center is a Tim Holtz Heirloom Rose.

The House that Sara Built...

Rose Passion

A Peaceful Christmas

Wishing You a Happy Christmas

Pion Design - For You

Sunday Afternoon

Pion Design - Make Waves

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I'm just a girl with a camera trying to enjoy the simple things. My two biggest passions in life are crafting handmade cards and photographing wild animals. I hope you will join me on my journey, as I share my crafting and my wildlife experiences.

MANY THANKS: I would like to thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. I get my inspiration from many places, so I send thanks to the very talented people who spark my creativity. Whenever possible, I will give credit to those who inspire me and I ask that if anyone is inspired by my creations, that you please do the same. I do hope you enjoy!

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DON'T FORGET: all smears, smudges and blobs were intentional and are part of the 'my little craft things' experience.